经济学人:韩国的不公平:精英教育(1)

 　　Asia 亚洲

　　Inequality in South Korea: Degrees of disenchantment 韩国的不公平：觉醒的程度

　　Young people are losing faith in an elitist education system. 韩国青年对精英教育失去信心。

　　“If you don't have the ability then blame your parents,” wrote Jung Yoo-ra on social media in 2014, after being accepted into a prestigious¹ university. 小柳女士在被一所知名大学录取后，2014年在社会媒体平台上这样写道：“你的无能都是因为你的父母”。

　　Her mother, it turns out, had gone to great lengths to secure a spot for her, inducing Ehwa Women's University to alter its admissions policy in a manner tailor-made for Ms Jung. 原来，她的妈妈想方设法地让她进入了著名的梨花女子大学，并且让该大学为小柳女士量身定做了一条招生政策。

　　Last month a court ruled that the nine people involved in this subterfuge² had fundamentally shaken the “values of fairness that prop³ up our society”. 上个月法院裁定，使用非正规手段进入大学的这九人已经从根本上动摇了“支撑我们社会的公平的价值观念”。

　　Above all, the “feelings of emptiness and betrayal they caused in hardworking students” could not be excused. 毕竟，“让不辞辛苦拼搏的学生感觉遭到背叛和产生空虚感”这是不可原谅的。

　　University was once seen as a source of social mobility⁴ in South Korea. 大学曾被视为韩国社会流动的源泉。

　　But so important is the right degree to a student's prospects⁵ in life that rich families began spending heavily on coaching to improve their children's chances, leaving poorer families behind. 但因为学位对于一个学生的未来至关重要，于是富裕的家庭开始在辅导孩子的学习上花费时间以给孩子创造更好地机会。这样一来，贫困的家庭就变得越来越贫困。

　　By 2007 over three-quarters of students were receiving some form of private tuition,  截止2007年为止，超过四分之三的韩国学生接受私人补习，

　　spawning⁶ a maxim⁷ about the three necessities to win a place at a good university: “father's wealth, mother's information, child's stamina”. 坊间还流传着要进入好的大学的三个条件：“父亲的财富，母亲对信息的收集，孩子的毅力”。

　　A report by the ministry⁸ of education found that in 2016 households with monthly incomes of 7m won ($6,230) or more were spending 443,000 won a month on private education,  韩国教育部的一项报告显示，在2016年，月收入为700万韩元(6230美元)及以上的家庭每月花费44.3万韩元在个人教育上，

　　nine times as much as families bringing in 1m won or less. 其每月教育支出是家庭月收入为100万韩元及以下家庭的9倍。

　　Many South Koreans believe that the rich and influential⁹ do not just spend more on education,  许多韩国人相信富人和有影响力的人不只是在教育上花更多的钱，

　　they also manipulate the system, as Ms Jung's mother, a close friend of the previous president, did so spectacularly. 他们也会干预政治，像前任总统的闺蜜，即小柳女士的母亲一样。

　　According to the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank, only a fifth of those aged¹⁰ 18-33 believe that working hard brings success. 根据名为皮尤研究中心的智囊团的研究显示，在年龄为18-33岁的人中只有五分之一的人相信努力终将会成功。

　　An ever-growing dictionary of slang attests¹¹ to the perception: people speak of using “back” (backing, or connections) to get jobs;  词典中不断增加的俚语也证明了这一结论：人们常说的走后门、靠关系来获得工作；

　　when Ms Jung refused to return to South Korea to face charges related to her university admission, the local press dubbed¹² it a “gold-spoon escape”. 当小柳女士拒绝回到韩国去面对关于她被大学录取的各种指责时，当地媒体把此举称为“金匙逃生”。

　　And 34% of young people say they feel “isolation due to academic cliques” at work. 34%的年轻人说他们在工作中能够感觉到“因为学校不同产生的隔离”。

1 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

2 subterfuge   

n.诡计；藉口

参考例句：

• European carping over the phraseology represented a mixture of hypocrisy and subterfuge.欧洲在措词上找岔子的做法既虚伪又狡诈。
• The Independents tried hard to swallow the wretched subterfuge.独立党的党员们硬着头皮想把这一拙劣的托词信以为真。

3 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

4 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

5 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

6 spawning   

产卵

参考例句：

• Encounter sites have a small chance of spawning a "Commander" NPC. 遭遇战地区有很小的几率遇到NPC指挥官。
• Instantly revives your Champion at your Spawning Pool, 9 minute cooldown. 立即在出生地复活你的英雄，冷却时间9分钟。

7 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

11 attests   

v.证明( attest的第三人称单数 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• The child's good health attests his mother's care. 这孩子健康的身体证实他母亲照料周到。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The boy's good health attests to his mother's care. 这个男孩的良好健康就是他母亲细心照顾的明证。 来自辞典例句

12 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》